St Etienne 0 - 0 AC Ajaccio

St Etienne 0-0 AC Ajaccio

Updated: July 30, 2005, 5:13 PM ET

ST ETIENNE, July 30 (Ligue 1) - St Etienne and Ajaccio played out a uninspiring goalless draw as both sides' defences maintained control over their opponents forwards.

Neither side looked particularly interested in playing with any real imagination or flair as they both decided from an early stage to focus on not losing the game rather than pressing for the win.

Perhaps the best chance of the game came in the 19th minute when the home side's Araujo Ilan burst through the Ajaccio defence to set up a one-on-one with the keeper, but he completely mis-hit his shot and the chance went begging.

Ajaccio's summer signing from Paris St Germain, Romain Rocchi, had a good chance to mark his Ligue 1 debut with a goal in the 44th minute, but his fine free-kick from 25 metres out flew agonisingly wide.

The second half failed to bring a significant improvement in the play of either side and chances were again few and far between.

The best chance of the half fell to Ajaccio's Marcelo Edson in the 68th minute. The Brazilian broke through the home side's defence and looked odds-on to strike the winner, but he inexplicably shot wide of the right hand post and the sides remained deadlocked.

St Etienne fans were on their feet in the 87th minute when Frederic Mendy hit a fine strike from 20 metres out, but it was easily saved and the game finished scoreless.

Both sets of fans will be hoping for more enterprise from their respective teams over the course of the season.